30 March... Love at first sight...again!

We woke up around 7am, and got ourselves together. We were supposed to hear from Gail sometime before 10am... We went downstairs for breakfast, which was a buffet of breads, jams, juices, coffe, tea, meats, injera, cheeses and fruits. The waitstaff was attentive and friendly, and breakfast was good.
We returned to the room, but still no word from Gail, so I called her and we made arrangements for Dawit to pick us up and bring us to the Guest House. When we arrived and saw how bad the road directly in front of Ritmo was, we decided it would be easier for us to walk to Layla than have Gail pick us up. We walked the rocky path back to Layla House, and were met at the gate by Gail, who took us right away to see Ava Sidisse. I couldn't believe how much hair she had grown since our trip in February.

The handoff...



She smiled right away when Gail handed her to me... and of course, I cried. It was nice to have Bill there, to get a few pics for me.

Me, snuggling my girl.



The board with all the babies names in English and Amharic...



Ava and Mama...



We hung out at Wanna for a while, and then went to watch the older kids play soccer. It is amazing to watch them run on concrete and rocks in flip-flops, barefoot, or with only one shoe. And they are really good - imagine what they could do with cleats!

Bill was in awe, and even initiated 'adoption talk', on the walk to the store afterward. I don't know if he would actually consider it, but I was happy to educate him on the process. We walked to the little store with the brown awning, to buy Pampers and Formula, and then back to the Ritmo to relax.

I stripped Ava down and gave her a bath - to my surprise, she was covered in spots. When Gail came by later, I asked her about them, and she confirmed my suspicion that Ava had Chicken Pox. I'm hoping it is end stage, and not the beginning... For now, they were mostly in her hair, and on her chest. I got her dressed and fed, and laid her down for a nap...3 hours later, she woke up. By that time, Bill and I were starving, and we headed to Bella Vista for pizza.




After, we walked back to the little store to buy cereal, that I forgot earlier in the day. We stopped by Layla on the way home to watch the older kids bedtime routine - unfortunately, I forgot to grab a bottle of water for Ava's bottle, so we missed the routine. After an hour of fighting Ava to go to sleep, she finally did, at 9 pm. We weren't too far behind.